The Westfield FFA Cup provides an opportunity for these long-time foes to get an early psychological advantage before the new Hyundai A-League campaign, which sees them kick off their seasons at Adelaide Oval on October 9. Not to mention, taking a giant leap towards the season’s first piece of silverware.

What a juicy contest we are set for at AAMI Park.

This will be Victory’s very first home tie in the FFA Cup - it's been a long wait and they will love being back at the scene of their triumph over Sydney FC in the Hyundai A-League Grand Final.

Kevin Muscat’s side hasn’t missed a beat in pre-season, scoring a truckload of goals in entertaining wins over both Hyundai A-League and PS4 NPL opposition.

Ominously for the visitors, all of Victory’s big guns seem to be in top form. Besart Berisha, Fahid Ben Khalfallah and Daniel Georgievski are leading from the front.

The A-League champions also welcome new signing Oliver Bozanic into their squad, as well as Gui Finkler, Kosta Barbarouses, Jason Geria, Scott Galloway and Connor Pain who all missed the last round win.

And what an occasion it promises to be for Carl Valeri, who will lead the side for the first time since he was unveiled as new skipper.

Adelaide’s pre-season from has also bubbled along nicely and new boss Guillermo Amor will have the Reds cherry-ripe for this one.

Like Victory, they will get the ball down and play with pace and verve on the pristine AAMI Park surface.

While playmaker Marcelo Carrusca will be the man the home side will target, the likes of Pablo Sanchez, Eli Babalj and FFA Cup specialist Sergio Cirio provide plenty of attacking threats for the Reds.

But they will be without defender Dylan McGowan who was sent off in the round of 16 extra-time win over Sydney FC.

It’s hard to split which way this tie will go but thrills, goals and action is assured in this battle between the current Hyundai A-League and Westfield FFA Cup champions.

WHAT THEY SAY

Daniel Georgievski (Melbourne Victory) "We're getting excited. We haven't played in front of the fans since the Grand Final, so we're looking forward to it for sure."

Tarek Elrich (Adelaide United) "We’ll go out there and worry about ourselves and the style of play we know we can play and we’ll go out there and hopefully get a result and hopefully this time we can do it in 90 minutes and not have to worry about extra time like against Sydney FC. The coaching staff have done a bit of video work on their strengths and weaknesses and have analysed their movements so we know what we want to target."

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

MELBOURNE VICTORY

League: Hyundai A-League

Current ladder position: Finished 1st and won the Hyundai A-League grand final last season